


On The First Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me....

by larrymylove



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, Did I Mention Dildos?, Dildos, Enemies to Lovers, Gift Exchange, Hate to Love, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 16:07:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8997646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larrymylove/pseuds/larrymylove
Summary: Based on the AU prompt, "I bought my friend a neon pink dildo as a gag gift but I accidentally got the presents mixed up and gave it to you instead and now I have to awkwardly explain what happened."
Harry never wanted to attend a Christmas party with his mortal enemy Louis Tomlinson. He especially never wanted for anyone else to see the gag gift he brought along for the host. But now Louis' tearing into the gift, and life never tends to always work out quite the way you expect.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the AU prompt, "I bought my friend a neon pink dildo as a gag gift but I accidentally got the presents mixed up and gave it to you instead and now I have to awkwardly explain what happened” from [this](http://platonicallyhomo.tumblr.com/post/154870860692/things-are-going-terribly-christmas-aus) post. 
> 
> I have been so sick these last few weeks and I really wanted to put out something for you all for Christmas. It's not the best, I know. But it made me smile as I was writing it and hopefully it makes you smile too!
> 
> I hope you enjoy and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! xx

Harry clutched the prettily wrapped package in his hands as he made his way to Liam’s flat. He had taken care to wrap the gift himself, and had even put a little bow on it. It was a very good job for his first go at actually wrapping a present himself, as opposed to bribing his mum or Gemma to do it for him. He held the package a little tighter, a devilish smile settling over his face as he envisioned what was inside. As he was making his way down the sidewalk, a loud laugh sounded behind him and he felt a hand clap him on the back.

“Hiya, Haz!” Niall grinned, excited as always and bouncing as he fell in step with Harry, “Ready for the party!”

“You know it,” Harry grinned, patting the box, “I got Li the perfect gift.”

“Ooh, what is it?” Niall’s face lit up as he tried to pry the box from Harry’s hand. He was successful, giving it a little shake and then asking, “It’s not breakable, is it?”

“Well I should hope not,” Harry pried the box away, “Not with you shaking it like that.”

“Sorry! So, did you hear about the boy Liam’s invited?”

“Liam has invited lots of boys, Niall. It’s a party, you know,” Harry smiled lazily, knowing he was giving Niall a hard time. Liam had mentioned trying to set him up with someone tonight, though Harry had to admit he was wary. Liam tried to overcompensate for his past ignorance sometimes, and the past three guys he’d tried to set Harry up had all been complete disasters. At least he was trying though, that was sweet.

“Fuck off,” Niall laughed, shoving Harry’s shoulder, “I meant Louis.”

“Wait, _what?_ Louis? As in….”

“Louis Tomlinson, the one and only.”

Harry’s face crumbled. He could feel his cheeks flame and suddenly he felt very hot under his sweatshirt and thick peacoat. Surely Louis Tomlinson wasn’t the guy Liam was trying to set him up with. Surely there had to be some sort of mistake. Liam had gone off-base several times, but this….this crossed a whole new level of disastrous.

“Tell me you’re kidding.”

“I’m kidding.”

“Tell me _truthfully_ you’re kidding.”

Silence.

“That’s what I figured,” Harry winced, “Niall, he can’t! Surely he’s mistaken. He knows how much Louis and I hate each other. We can barely stand to be in the same room together, much less at the same party and as each other’s potential dates! We’ll kill each other! Does Liam _want_ a bloodbath at his party?”

“Will you relax,” Niall laughed, shaking Harry’s shoulder, “Geez.”

“You’re not the one who’s about to have to go to a party and face his mortal enemy.”

“Okay, drama queen,” Niall rolled his eyes, “Louis’ not that bad.”

“What do you mean ‘not that bad?’ Niall, you know how he is. You know how we can’t stand each other. He’s made my life a living hell since we got to uni and you know it.”

Sighing, Niall shook his head, “You’re being dramatic, Haz. He’s not so bad. What even happened between the two of you to make each other hate one another? Like for real, it’s been three years of this nonsense. We only have got one more year at uni left, like can’t you just put aside whatever it is and get along?”

Harry grimaced, “You wouldn’t understand Niall.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“I-I can’t okay? I just can’t. C’mon, let’s try not to think about Louis Tomlinson, at least until we get there.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

Harry was thankful then for Niall’s easy-going, go-with-the-flow attitude. He really, really hadn’t wanted to tell Niall all the nitty, gritty details about his falling out with Louis Tomlinson. It had happened their freshman year, and there had been a mixer in the in the freshmen dormitories. All freshmen had been required to live on campus their first year, and Harry had been excited to have a roommate and be living with his friends close by. The mixer had been fun, held in the common area of the dormitory with plenty of food and booze. It was there that he’d met Louis Tomlinson.

Louis was two years older than him, it’d turned out. He’d taken some time off between graduation and uni to ‘find himself’ apparently. They’d buddied up almost immediately, Harry leaving behind Liam and Niall to be virtually attached at Louis’ hip. They’d spent the entire night drinking and flirting and flirting and drinking. And Harry had felt such a buzz, not just from the alcohol, but from Louis. Louis made him feel electric, like his whole body was a live wire jittering with voltage. The booze made him lose and fun, and it was easy to flirt back and to keep up with Louis, bantering back and forth until the early morning hours. They teased each other relentlessly, working each other up and Harry had sworn he couldn’t wait to get his mouth on Louis by the end of the night. But things had a funny way of happening - or not happening, so to say. They had finally broken apart from the party and had wound up in Louis’ dorm, on Louis’ bed. Harry could still see the Spiderman sheets. And things had gotten heated fast, and soon they were tugging at each other’s shirts and rutting against each other’s jeans and Louis had sucked a rather prominent bite on Harry’s jaw when all of a sudden his bedroom door had flown open and his roommate had walked it. It wouldn’t have been too big a deal if Louis hadn’t done what he did. And what he did was to jump off Harry so fast Harry’s head spun, adjusted his fringe, cleared his throat, and said, “I can’t do this. You should probably go.”

And so Harry had left, feeling horny and rejected and confused and hurt. All in all, a horrible concoction of emotions if he was honest. After that night, they’d seen each other around campus the coming weeks and had avoided each other at all costs up until they had bumped into each other - literally - at the soda fountain in the canteen. It had been almost a month since the incident, and Harry had been filling up a cup with ice when Louis appeared beside him, wanting to get to the ice as well. They were quiet, the only sounds the sounds of the ice plinking into Harry’s paper cup. And then Louis had done it. He’d reached his foot out and lightly kicked Harry’s ankle with the toe of his scuffy Vans. And Harry had turned to him, confused only to find Louis shyly looking at him through his fringe. And Harry’s heart had raced because all those feelings from that night had come flooding back in waves. Including the feelings of rejection, confusion, hurt, and arousal. Suddenly all he felt was anger, anger that Louis had thrown him out, and anger that Louis was suddenly now paying attention to him after a month of silence.

So Harry had rolled his eyes, filled his cup, and left without a word of acknowledgement to Louis. And that was that. The gloves came off in that moment, and from then on, it was all out war between them. When they passed each other on campus, it wasn’t uncommon for them to mutter curses at each other. When they shared a class together the following semester, it was typical for the two to always argue during class debates, vehemently taking the opposing side of the other. When Niall had dragged Harry to watch a footie game on the quad with him, and he’d seen Louis play and Louis had spotted him the small crowd that had gathered, their eyes had met and Louis flashed a saccharine grin before holding his middle finger up right at Harry. And so it went for the last three years of uni. And Harry didn’t understand why all his friends kept telling him Louis wasn’t ‘all that bad.’ And he didn’t understand why, when Louis kicked the ball during one of his quad games and it had smacked Harry right in the face causing his nose to gush and his eyes to fill with tears, his friends still insisted that Louis was worth giving a chance to.

How could Liam even think for two seconds that having them at the same party would be a good idea? How could he even think there was date potential between the two of them? It honestly boggled Harry’s mind and he felt a bit sick as they neared Liam’s complex. Liam’s parties were legend, but at the same time he had to keep them fairly small due to his tiny uni student flat. Harry would have to see Louis at least at some point tonight, and most likely have to interact with him. He’d wanted this to be a good night. He’d been looking forward to tonight. Stupid Liam. Harry made a mental note to seek some sort of revenge.

“So what did you get ‘im anyway?” Niall asked again, tapping the box with his knuckle, drawing Harry from his thoughts.

“Oh,” a devilish grin spread across Harry’s face, “It’s hilarious! Okay, so you know how Liam tends to try to overcompensate sometimes for how ignorant he used to be? Well, a few weeks ago I had him over and I hadn’t closed out of some tabs on my laptop. He logged in to print something for his Anatomy class and saw the tabs I’d opened and they were for an online sex shop,” Harry held up a hand, “Don’t ask. A guy can have a healthy sex life. Masturbation is healthy and normal.”

“Hey,” Niall chuckled, “No judgement man, and certainly not from me!”

“Right. Well, he freaked out. Like he jumped back from the computer like it’d burned him and he looked so horrified. His face was ghost-white, right? And so I decided to have some fun with him. I was like ‘oh yeah, I am in need of a new dildo and I was looking at a few options. I’m thinking a vibe might be nice too. A good ol’ prostate tickler. What do you say, Liam?’”

“ _You didn’t!_ ” Niall gasped, scandalized.

“I did. Said it with a straight face too. Don’t know how I managed that one. But Liam looked ill. Like he looked like he was going to lose it and then I said, “Oh, what’s wrong, Liam? I thought you were comfortable with me.’ And he freaked. He started panicking and apologizing and trying to hug me and I couldn’t stand it anymore. He looked so horrible and I felt so bad and so I told him I was just yanking his chain.”

“You are a goddamn menace.”

Harry shrugged smugly, “He’s too much fun to not mess with sometimes.”

“How are you still alive, mate?”

Harry laughed, “You know the vines with that one AWOLNATION song? And it says ‘run’ and the beat drops?”

“Yeah?”

“It was pretty much like that.”

“I swear you have a death wish sometimes when it comes to him.”

“ _Psh,_ ” Harry rolled his eyes, “All he did was try to tickle me to death. Besides, I’m getting my revenge tonight.”

“Revenge for his revenge?”

“It’s a vicious cycle, Niall,” Harry patted Niall’s shoulder, “But what’s in this box will definitely be revenge for both almost tickling me to death and this insane idea that Louis and I could ever be anything.”

“And that is?”

“A glittery plastic hot pink vibrating dildo.”

Niall screeched with laughter, doubling over and gripping his sides while Harry smiled smugly and held the box a little tighter in his arms. It was an excellent plan. Harry was very proud of his plan.

“You’re crazy,” Niall jabbed a finger into Harry’s arm, “He’s going to murder you.”

“Maybe,” Harry shrugged happily, it was a chance he was willing to take.

They walked up to Liam’s flat, and could already hear the booming Christmas music from down the hall. Liam was lucky he was such a “good boy” and could get away with stuff like this when he actually dared pull it. Niall knocked on the door and they waited a moment for someone to answer.

“So what did you get him?” Harry asked, nodding to the sack in Niall’s hand.

“What do you think?” Niall grinned, “Beer.”

“Of course.”

Liam opened the door, greeting the two of them with a giant bear hug that almost lifted the both of them up off the floor, “Good to see you!” Liam ruffled at Harry’s curls, “You can set your presents over there on that table! Come in, come in! We’ve got beer and some sort of punch thing over there that I’m sure is spiked to hell and back. There’s also pizza on its way. And Harry, you have got to talk to the guy I invited for you….”

“Niall told me it’s Louis, Liam,” Harry set his box down on the table along with a bunch of other gifts, “And honestly, what the hell were you thinking, Li?”

“I was thinking,” Liam folded his arms over his chest and fixed Harry with his stern ‘dad-look’ “that maybe if the two of you would pull your heads out of your asses you might actually get along.”

“Yeah. Not happening.”

“Just give it a try, yeah? For me?”

“Tempting,” Harry pressed a kiss to Liam’s cheek and said, “but no,” before scurrying off to the kitchen to get something to drink.

Of course, it would be his luck that Louis would be in the kitchen at that exact moment, stirring the massive plastic bowl of punch with a ladle.

“Liam said the punch was spiked to hell and back,” Harry swung open the fridge and grabbed a beer, “Figured you probably had a hand in it.”

Louis scoffed, “Cheers mate, but no. This is too much even for me. I don’t trust it.”

“Yet you’re stirring it.”

“Trying to figure out what’s in it. I think I’m getting hints of rubbing alcohol and gasoline.”

“Gross.”

“Yeah. I blame the freshmen. He just had to take freshmen anatomy and he just had to invite his lab partner and some of his lab partner’s friends. Who knows what the fuck they put in this. Get me a beer will you?”

“Get it yourself.”

“Fuck you.”

Harry rolled his eyes, pulling a second bottle of beer from the fridge, “Here.”

“Cheers,” Louis cracked his beer open, bringing it to his lips and taking a swig.

“So Liam invited you?”

“Yeah,” Louis wiped his lip on the back of his hand, “We share a literature class. He’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“You’ve been friends for awhile, right?”

“Since we were like fifteen, yeah.”

“Cute. My best mate decided to go to school almost six hours away. The fucker.”

“That sucks,” Harry took a sip of his beer, wondering why Louis was talking to him.

“Yeah, he comes up on the weekends sometimes.”

“Louis?”

“Yeah?”

“Um….why are you talking to me?” Harry asked, realizing how much of a dickhead he sounded like only after the words were already out.

Louis’ expression changed just for a flash before he swallowed thickly and said, “Fuck if I know. You’re the one that came in here and started talking to me.”

“My mistake, then.”

“Dickhead.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“God you’re insufferable! You can’t go five minutes without being an arsehole to me.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Louis chuckled dryly, “Mr. _‘My Mistake Then.’”_

Harry took a swig of his beer, “I honestly don’t even know why Liam bothered.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He invited you thinking we’d hit it off or something. Thinks we should ‘pull our heads out of our asses’ whatever that means. As if he hasn’t been around these last three years to see how horrible you’ve been to me.”

“ _Me?_ ” Louis’ eyes nearly bulged from his head, “ _I’ve_ been horrible to you?”

“Yes. Where should I begin? Oh I know, how about the night I was going to fuck you and you decided to throw me out? Or how about the time you launched a ball at my face and busted my fucking nose?”

Harry’s cheeks flamed and he wanted to just turn around and run, but he stood his ground as the color drained from Louis’ cheeks. His lips pursed together into a thin, straight line and he flicked the fringe from his eyes before saying, “Is that what you think? You don’t know shit about that night and the thing with the ball was a fucking _accident_ , Harry. Do you think I’d actually intentionally hurt you? Do you?”

The kitchen suddenly felt very small and the music seemed to drain away to the background. Suddenly there was no party, just Harry and Louis alone in a kitchen throwing verbal knives at one another. One was surely bound to hit and cut. Apparently that one had.

“Louis, I….”

“I tried to apologize, remember? The second I saw it’d hit your face and that you were bleeding. I ran over to check on you, remember? And you shoved me away and left with Niall. It was clear you didn’t want my apology, Harry. So what would the point in trying to give you one be?”

Harry set his beer on the counter and ran a palm through his hair. Louis had tried to apologize? All Harry remembered of that afternoon was the pain in his nose and the blood. And having to lie down with an ice pack on his face and gauze up his nose for the remainder of the evening.

“I….I didn’t know.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“I didn’t.”

“You thought I did it on purpose.”

“What was I supposed to think? Louis, you kicked it right at me!”

“I didn’t mean to hit you in your fucking face! I just wanted to get your fucking attention!”

“Why would you want my attention?”

“Because I’ve been trying to get your attention for the last three fucking years but you’re too fucking stupid to notice.”

And wait, what? Surely Harry hadn’t heard that correctly. Why would Louis be trying to get his attention for the last three years? They could barely stand each other and wanted nothing to do with one another, right? At least that’s what he’d thought.

“You….you wanted my attention?”

“Yeah,” Louis folded his arms over his chest and suddenly the callous boy with the sharp jaw and wit of a whip looked the softest Harry had ever seen him. He tugged lightly at his fringe before hugging his arms back around himself and rocking on his heels as he said, “I’ve wanted your attention since I realized I’d fucked up that night.”

“What?” Harry’s head spun. None of this made any sense.

“That night….with you….I had just gotten out of a bad relationship, and the breakup had been messy. I didn’t….I didn’t want to do anything with you because I realized it was going to be a rebound for me. I didn’t want my first time with you to be a rebound. And so I freaked and told you to get out. And when I realized what I’d done, I figured I’d royally fucked up. So I avoided you. And then I couldn’t avoid you, so I tried to flirt with you but you weren’t having it. And I just….I wanted your attention. So I’d do things like pick at you and try to get under your skin just because having you angry with me was better than having you feel nothing for me.”

Harry needed another drink. He needed ten other drinks. How had he never known? It’d been three years, and he thought Louis only ever did the things he did because he was a brat. Harry had no idea what to do with this new information, or how to even process it.

“I….I don’t know what to say.”

“Presents time!” Liam’s voice called from the living room.

“Just forget it,” Louis pushed past him, “It’s nothing.”

“Hey,” Harry grabbed the sleeve of his soft grey sweater, “It’s not nothing.”

“Just drop it, okay? It’s the booze from the punch. The aroma got to my head.”

“Lou…”

“Presents!” Liam called again, “C’mon!”

“Harry,” Louis jerked his arm away, “Just drop it. Let’s go.”

Harry sighed and followed Louis out to the living room. Liam had all the presents stacked on the coffee table and Harry would have been confused and anxious if he’d actually been paying attention to what was going on. Instead, all he could focus on was Louis. He’d been so arse-over-tit for Louis only for Louis to shove him away as if he were nothing. Harry had spent months pining before finally bucking up and just being annoyed. But Louis had just revealed he had liked Harry this whole time, and Harry didn’t really know what to do with that. Or with the realization that maybe Liam had been right all along….

Speaking of Liam….

He was currently arranging the presents on the table as everyone gathered around in the living room, “Alright,” he cleared his throat, “Here’s how this is going to work. We each go around and get to pick one present from the pile to open. I’ll start.”

“Wait….” Harry’s heart kicked into overdrive as his brain finally caught up to what was going on around him, “The presents aren’t just for you?”

Liam’s brow furrowed, “Harry, I sent out a mass text to everyone explaining that the gifts would be part of a gift trade. Did you not get that text?”

Harry felt sick. No, he most certainly had not gotten that text or else he wouldn’t have brought a hot pink vibrating dildo knowing there was a chance anyone could open it.

“I-I guess not.”

“Oops,” Liam shrugged, “Oh well. Now you know. So basically how this is going to work is everyone takes a turn picking out a present and at the end we go around in a circle and can trade only if the trade is mutually agreed upon. I’ll start and I think I’m going to go with this one,” Liam pulled Niall’s sack from the pile. Harry paled.

Liam ripped out the tissue paper to reveal the case of beer inside, “Oh sweet! Thanks, Nialler!”

Niall grinned, “You can share that, you know.”

“Tempting. Alright, Andrew you’re up next.”

Harry stood off to the side next to Louis, watching in horror as the guests all chose a gift. He knew he could probably just tell Liam about the mix-up, say that it was an inside joke only meant for him and him alone. But between what was unfolding before him, and Louis’ reveal in the kitchen, his brain just wasn’t processing up to speed. All he could think about was Louis’ confession and what that meant and how he felt. He also was dreading someone choosing his gift, but his brain to mouth function just wasn’t cooperating. All he could really do was watch in horror as Louis went next, reaching right for Harry’s gift.

Harry froze. He hadn’t put a tag on it, so maybe Louis wouldn’t ever know it’d come from him.

“Louis…” Harry started as Louis tore off the little bow, “....there’s something you should know….”

“Harry, I told you to drop it so just drop it okay. It doesn’t matter. Now hush up.”

“But….”

“Oh my god.”

The paper was off, and the box with the words Prostate Tickler in pink bubble letters was in Louis’ hands. Harry felt sick. Harry felt sicker than sick. He wished the entire floor would open up and swallow him whole. He wished he’d never even come to this stupid party.

“Shit,” Niall muttered.

“What is it?” Liam asked.

“It’s um….it’s a Prostate Tickler,” Louis quirked a brow.

“Oh god damn it,” Liam turned to Harry, “That was yours, wasn’t it?”

“It was supposed to be an inside joke!” Harry was horror-stricken.

“Oh boy,” Liam pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Jesus….” some kid muttered from behind Harry.

“Hey,” Louis turned to Harry, nuding him with his elbow, “I don’t have any complaints.”

And that was all it took to push Harry over the edge. He needed to leave, he needed to get out of there and leave and not look back. He could deal with Liam tomorrow, but he couldn’t deal with the two dozen or so other guests staring at him as if he was some sort of nympho.

“I….I need to go,” Harry hurried to the door.

“Harry!” Liam called after him, “Wait!”

But he was already tugging on his coat and hurrying out the door. He knew running was probably making things worse, but fuck it. He was already too overwhelmed with everything Louis had just thrown at him and now this. And then Louis had the nerve to nudge him and tell him that he didn’t mind it. What the fuck? Harry should have never come to the party. He should have stayed at home, in his pajamas with hot cocoa and watching _Eloise at Christmastime_.

He tugged his coat around his shoulders tighter as he headed to his flat. It wasn’t a far walk, all the off-campus flats were grouped together for the most part. About ten more minutes of walking and he’d be home and could pull the covers over his head and try to pretend that the night had never even happened.

A honking car horn told him that wasn’t going to be likely.

He whipped around to see Louis’ beat up car tailing behind him and Louis’ half-leaned out the rolled-down window as he called, “Hey, Harry! Wait up!”

“What do you want, Louis?” Harry spat out, “Come to make fun for me? Make me feel even worse about tonight? Well good luck. Because nothing you say could make me feel any worse. I already feel like shit for everything so just fucking drop it.”

“I didn’t drive out here to make fun of you,” Louis insisted, “I drove out here to find you.”

“Why? Tonight was a disaster. Prime material for you to tease me from here to Timbuktu.”

“You clearly feel bad enough without me being a dickhead, Harry. Now would you just get in the damn car?”

“No. For many reasons. One being I am going home to go to bed and to try to forget this whole night. The second being I don’t entirely trust you much at all for very good reasons.”

Louis sighed, “Just get in the damn car, Harry.”

“Louis just go back to the party. I don’t want Liam having to lose two party guests.”

“He’s worried about you and feels bad, Harry. You didn’t ruin anything. Everyone’s mostly just confused about why you left.”

“Great. So not only am I the freak who brought a sex toy, I’m the loser who ran out.”

“No, not a freak. Or a loser. Just….you’re embarrassed okay, I get that. I do. It sucks that you didn’t get the memo about the gifts. But it’s not a complete loss. Your gift won’t go to waste, I can assure you that.”

Harry buried his face in his hands and groaned.

“Will you just get in the fucking car please? I look like a goddamn creeper stalking you around like this.”

“Why should I?”

“Because, you took off before the pizza got there and I don’t know about you but I’m starving. And McDonald’s sounds good and I think you and I should talk a bit. And also because a Big Mac is calling my name and I can hear it saying, ‘Louis...Louis….Louis!’”

“Alright! Alright!” Harry bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at Louis’ dramatics, “I’ll get in the damn car. But you’re paying.”

Harry swung open the passenger door and slide into his seat. Louis looked rather smug as he rolled up his window and turned the car around to head back in the direction of the main road.

“Don’t be embarrassed about the gift, Harry. Really. It was funny, and I have to give you props for giving Liam Payne a sex toy as a gag gift. Nice one! But truly, Harry. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Besides, I’m the one that chose the gift and I’m absolutely keeping it. If you think you can give me a free glittery pink vibrating dildo and I’m not going to get full-use out of it, you’re mistaken.”

“Oh my God,” Harry put his face back in his hands.

“Hey,” Louis nudged him, “I’m not trying to tease you. Honest. I feel bad that you feel bad.”

A beat passed, and Harry found himself asking, “Did you really try to apologize about my nose?” 

“Of course, H. I’d never...I’d never, ever intentionally hurt you. You’ve got to believe that. And when I saw the blood….I panicked. But you were so done with me and you just shoved me away and I couldn’t really blame you. I know I can be a bit of a brat. When I find someone I like, I go full-on little boy pulling pigtails. I guess I’ve always just got to have someone’s attention on me. And I don’t always know the best ways of going about that,” Louis winced, and Harry noticed his grip on the steering wheel tightening.

“Hey,” Harry harry nudged him gently, “You aren’t the only one who can be a bit of a brat, okay? I know I have my share of apologies to make to you as well.”

“No apologies,” Louis shook his head, “I think neither one of us knew how to handle each other and we both messed up a bit, right? But let’s not focus on that. Let’s focus on you and me driving together to go get McDonald’s.”

“Is that all you think about?” Harry found himself giggling, “Your stomach?”

“My stomach, and the cute boy beside me.”

Harry flushed. They didn’t say anything more until Louis pulled into the drive-through of the McDonald’s. They both ordered Big Mac meals with a strawberry shake and a Coke. Once they got their food, Louis pulled into an empty parking space and they began to tuck into their food.

“Thank you for this,” Harry said nibbling his burger.

“Don’t mention it.”

“And thank you for coming after me.”

He noticed the small smile and soft blush that colored Louis’ cheeks, “Again, don’t mention it.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“Um...in the kitchen...you said that you didn’t want our first time to be a rebound. What did you mean by that? By our first time? Did you mean there’d be more than once?”

Louis wiped at his mouth with a napkin, “Well, yeah? I mean, when I first met you and hit it off with you, all I could think was I’d never clicked with someone so well before. It wasn’t just going to be a one night thing with me, unless that’s what you wanted. But as far as me, and what I wanted….I wanted a relationship with you. I wanted the whole deal - dates and getting to know you and falling for you more and more. But we drank a lot, and eventually all I could think of was getting you out of your jeans. And then my roommate got back and it was like reality to me. I didn’t handle it well. I should have just told you the truth, that I didn’t want to rush things. I shouldn’t have just kicked you out like that but I was just confused and overwhelmed by everything.”

“I maybe could have made more of an effort to find out what was wrong as opposed to just freezing you out. Especially when you made an effort to reach out. I'm sorry, Louis.”

Louis dunked a chip into the milkshake, “I’m sorry I was a dickhed.”

“I’m sorry I was a dickhead too.”

Louis chuckled, “When you left tonight, did you think think this would at all be the direction your night would go?”

Harry couldn’t help but laugh, “No, no I have to say I didn’t.”

A soft smile settled over Louis’ face, “There it is,” he said.

“There’s what?”

“Your dimple.”

Harry blushed, “Lou….”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

Something warm curled in the pit of Harry’s stomach and all he could think of was the last three years wasted, and the way he’d run from the party. He was done running though.

“You really going to get some use out of my gift?” He glanced at Louis from the corner of his eye.

“Oh baby,” Louis grinned, “We’re going to have some fun with it for sure!”

“ _We?_ ” Harry quirked a brow, “A bit presumptuous, don’t you think?”

Louis merely shrugged, “You tell me.”

“I don’t put out on the first date, Tomlinson.”

“Fair point,” Louis nodded.

“And besides,” Harry nibbled on his bottom lip, gathering the courage to finish his sentence, “You haven’t even kissed me yet.”

“Also fair point,” Louis nodded again, “Guess we’ll have to change that.”

“Guess so.”

“Right,” Louis reached up to grab the little pine tree shaped air freshener from his mirror, “C’mere.”

Harry looked at Louis sitting across from him, dangling the air freshener above their heads and laughed, “What the hell are you doing, Lou?”

“Didn’t get to kiss you under the mistletoe at the party, so I’m making do.”

Harry laughed, grabbed the air freshener from Louis, and tossed it to the backseat as he muttered, “Idiot,” before pressing his lips against his.

“But what will I tell my mum?” Louis asked when they pulled away.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Harry asked.

“Well….” Louis smiled devilishly, “....when she asks how we got together, I can’t exactly tell her it was thanks to a hot pink vibrating dildo, can I?”

“Oh my god.”

“The grandkids are going to ask us one day what the best Christmas gift you ever got me was and I can’t really answer ‘a hot pink vibrating dildo’ can I?”

“Shut up.”

“I mean, we _technically_ weren’t even together yet and you got me a sex toy, Harold. And for _Christmas_ at that!”

Harry groaned, “I thought you said you weren’t going to tease me about it.”

“That was when you were actually upset,” Louis smirked, “You’re not upset now, so I have full go at teasing you relentlessly for this. And believe me baby, I _will_ tease you relentlessly for this.”

“Oh joy,” Harry rolled his eyes.

“Also tease you relentlessly _with_ this, if you catch my drift.”

Harry smacked him.

“A sex toy on Baby Jesus’ birthday nonetheless….”

Harry let out a growl, “Shut up, Louis.”

“You going to make me?”

If Harry pounced and kissed him breathless, well he couldn’t exactly be blamed, could he?

“Take me home,” he said after they pulled apart and he fell back against his seat, “We’re going to curl up together with blankets and pillows and watch Eloise at Christmastime. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect,” Louis put the car in drive and backed out of the parking lot, “One question though.”

“Shoot.”

“Will the dildo be joining us?”

If Harry smacked him on the arm, well he couldn’t exactly be blamed for that either, could he?

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Also, it'd mean so much to me if you'd like/reblog the tumblr post for this fic found [here.](http://wellingtontat.tumblr.com/post/154899350453/wellingtontat-on-the-first-day-of-christmas-my) Thank you!!


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